Another Kryptonite Question

[The Rusty Lantern]

Perhaps this has been explored in the comics, but I'm interested to hear other peoples thoughts and theories.

We all know that kryptonite makes Superman weak, sick, and vulnerable to the point where it potentially could kill him. But does he need to be exposed to it for it a duration of time, even if very short, for it to affect him? What I'm driving at is this:

What would happen if someone fired a bullet made of kryptonite at a fully-powered Superman?

Would it hurt him like a normal bullet would hurt him or kill him like a normal bullet would hurt or kill a normal person just because it's kryptonite? Would nothing happen because when you consider the mass of the bullet (very small) and the time of exposure (very little) it would not be enough to hurt him? Are there other possible scenarios?

Thoughts and theories, please!

[chriskenny]

I believe the supervillain Bloodsport actually shot with him with a Kryptonite bullet in his first appearance. I didn't read the issue but read issues where this was referenced. I think it punctured him like a normal bullet would a normal person. Correct me if I am wrong. (Who am I kidding, if I am wrong 80 people are going to jump all over me without me asking! :p )

[dancj]

You're right. He started healing as soon as the bullets were removed

[The Rusty Lantern]

Thanks. I thought it might have happened, and the name Bloodsport is familiar. However, I have a problem with the bullet puncturing his skin-- it seems to me that time has always been needed for kryptonite to do its stuff. My theory is that the bullet wouldn't puncture the skin, but would bruise him badly, and then the spent slug would continue to poison him as it lay on the ground.

Just a thought.

[Lorendiac]

Thanks. I thought it might have happened, and the name Bloodsport is familiar. However, I have a problem with the bullet puncturing his skin-- it seems to me that time has always been needed for kryptonite to do its stuff. My theory is that the bullet wouldn't puncture the skin, but would bruise him badly, and then the spent slug would continue to poison him as it lay on the ground.

Just a thought.

On the other hand, it seems reasonable that the speed with which Green K Radiation weakens his powers could be proportional to how close it is to his flesh at any given moment. I mean, if I were holding a Green K bullet in my hand right now, and Superman flew in the window looking for something and landed twenty feet away from me, I think he'd start feeling weakness and/or pain immediately, but not so immediately that he wouldn't be able to run away and get out of range again in a hurry. Every step he successfully took to get away from me would leave him feeling a little bit stronger, as he got that much further away from the weakening influence of the Green K (assuming I just stood still and didn't chase him or anything).

On the other hand, if I fired a Green K bullet directly at him, then the Green K would already be touching him before he could do much about it. As it got within one little inch of his flesh, and still coming forward at him at high speed, perhaps the close proximity to Green K radiation would instantly overwhelm his "invulnerability" (or his "telekinetic force field" or whatever theory you prefer for why he's usually bulletproof) and thus the bullet would be able to keep going right into his flesh as in Bloodsport's case from the late 80s?

Which suggests that if a chunk of Green K were twenty feet away from him, and you fired a regular bullet from a Colt .45 at him, it probably wouldn't puncture his skin, but it might give him a nasty bruise because his invulnerability was somewhat weakened by the presence of Green K a short distance away (Although this might change if you kept him chained up with Green K twenty feet away for half an hour, and then tried to shoot his now much-more-weakened body). But if the Green K were only a few inches away from him, and you fired a regular bullet, it might hurt him badly because the Green K was so close that his invulnerability was already almost completely wiped out?

I'm speculating as I go along; I don't claim to know for sure just how badly his invulnerability suffers at any given distance from the nearest piece of Green K.

[CaptainAwesome]

Thanks. I thought it might have happened, and the name Bloodsport is familiar. However, I have a problem with the bullet puncturing his skin-- it seems to me that time has always been needed for kryptonite to do its stuff. My theory is that the bullet wouldn't puncture the skin, but would bruise him badly, and then the spent slug would continue to poison him as it lay on the ground.

Just a thought.
I think he was also shot in one of the first few issues of Superman/Batman. I think Batman pulled the bullet out just in time to keep him from dying.

[Rockman]

I think he was also shot in one of the first few issues of Superman/Batman. I think Batman pulled the bullet out just in time to keep him from dying.

Yep, it was hard because his skin was already covering up the wound around the bullet.